Monday, August 5, 2013

Katie McCory and the Dagger of Truth Excerpt (Friend or Foe)


KATIE McCORY AND THE DAGGER OF TRUTH
Friend or Foe 

The group huddled closer together. All of their inner spirits were warning them that danger was unavoidable. None of them had noticed a dark shadow which had been following them since the tunnel opening. It had slithered on the walls and ceiling, hidden in the cracks and corners, and now crept behind them on the dusty floor, blending in with their own shadows. 

Slowly, it crept under their feet. It reached Katie and started up her leg but sensing The Dagger of Justice in her robe, it dove deep into the ground. It surfaced again under Ariel and smiled to itself. Yes, this one would do, it thought. The dark being slowly reached up and grabbed Ariel’s heart. Ariel gasped and fell to the ground.

      “Ariel!” cried Katie, falling to her knees beside her friend. “What’s wrong?”

      Ariel couldn’t speak. Her hands were as cold as ice, and her skin was starting to turn gray. She clutched her chest holding Omar’s feather in her hand. Her eyes were vacant, lifeless. She stared into the darkness in some kind of trance.

      “Astra, what is it? What’s wrong with her?” asked Donnie, holding his sister tightly in his arms.

      “I am not sure,” said Astra. “It is some kind of spell, but I cannot tell from whom it comes. I do not see anyone. Omar is searching for the source.”

      Omar had flown from Astra’s arm and was circling  the tunnel, his wide eyes piercing every corner and crack. He flew ahead of the group shrieking for them to follow.

      “Go,” said Jackel, bending over Ariel to protect her from further harm. “You must follow Omar and find the source of the spell to undo it. Go, Donnie. Your sword will probably be needed now, and so will your dagger, Katie. You have to find the source of the spell! Go, all of you. Now!”

      Katie, Donnie, and Billy followed Astra and Blaze down the tunnel and into a cave. Omar was hovering beside a small crevice in the wall.

      “The being is a shadow demon,” said Astra. “Omar says that many of them live down here. They are beings that have been so cursed that they exist only as a shadow of their former selves. They feel nothing except a desire to feel again. No pain, no happiness, no sadness. They merely exist.”



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